The Impact Of Larry P. V. Riles Case On Special Education, Essay.

Background of the Larry P. v. Riles Case

In 1971, one African-American child named Larry, who was the primary plaintiff in the court case on behalf of the other African-Americans, filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco Unified School District and the California Department of Education. And, as a lawsuit, they claimed that the entire educational administration system is biased. All of these IQ tests to determine a child's intelligence are biased, and as a result of these tests, only African-American children have been disproportionately moved to the special education system, with the report that these children are educable mentally retarded (EMR) (Justica US Law, 2020).

After hearing the plaintiff in the case, the court issued a preliminary injunction, stating that no standardized IQ test can be used to determine whether or not a kid is educable mentally retarded, even if the parents desire it. And no child will be placed in this special education system without the court's permission. However, after reviewing the proper information provided by the parties as well as the case evidence, it was discovered that 66 percent of the students in this special education programme were African-American. After a lengthy trial, the judge permanently outlawed the use of IQ testing for placing African-American students in EMR programmes, claiming that it was racially and culturally biased, resulting in disproportionate placement of African-American students in dead-end classrooms (Special Education Rights and Responsibilities, 2021).

The decision in this case has had an impact on special education because it can now be fairly determined whether a child is eligible for special education or not. For example, instead of sending the child to this system before, proper questions are now asked of the child in front of the guardian, and this checking is sometimes done at the request of the guardian of that child. Another example of the impact of this case's decision is that proper procedure is followed, such as proper questing and checking the habits and environment of the child, proper evaluation of the child, and if only the child's parents are satisfied, then only a proper meeting with the child's parents is arranged, and only then is the system of that child's training started. 

Conclusion

So, after analysis of all the proper facts of the case and the court decision I can say that the decision passed by the court was right because the situations of the case were clearly revealing that African-American child’s ratio was high in that special education system and this could not be possible that only those children were with disability. Although special education system is necessary for the childrens with disability but only when the test is conducted fairly which have started after this case landmark decision. So, in this way after this case decision I can say that the decision passed in the case of Larry P. v. Riles was an effective point for the welfare of African-American childrens.

References

Justica US Law. (2020). Larry P. v. Riles, 495 F. Supp. 926 (N.D. Cal. 1979). Retrieved January 2022, from https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/495/926/2007878/

Special Education Rights and Responsibilities. (2021). What is the Larry P. v. Riles case? How did it originate? Retrieved January 2022, from https://serr.disabilityrightsca.org/serr-manual/chapter-2-information-on-evaluations-assessments/2-45-what-is-the-larry-p-v-riles-case-how-did-it-originate/